Three men suspected of counterfeiting money back in April of 2007 have all made court appearances in Wadena County District Court.

Tyler John Marshall, 19, of Parkers Prairie; Derek Joseph Fredrickson, 19; and Jackson Derek Berglund, 20, both of Staples, were all charged with two counts of counterfeiting currency - both are felony-level charges.

Advertisement

Advertisement

An investigation first conducted by the Alexandria Police Department led to the execution of a search warrant on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 in the city of Parkers Prairie.

The investigation led to more search warrants in the Staples area, where printing equipment that was used in the production of the fake money was located and seized by authorities.

Five different agencies were involved in the investigating of this case.

An omnibus hearing for Marshall took place on January 8 with another omnibus hearing now set for February 12 in Wadena County District Court.

A hearing for Fredrickson took place on January 3, which is where the date for his first initial court appearance was scheduled for January 22.

Berglund made his first initial court appearance on November 13, 2007. An omnibus hearing then took place on December 18, 2007 and now, a settlement conference has been scheduled for February 5.

According to the criminal complaint, here is a breakdown of what happened:

After receiving several complaints regarding counterfeit money in the Alexandria, Parkers Prairie, Wadena and Staples areas, agencies from several departments, including the Alexandria Police Department, investigated the complaints and were led to a residence in Parkers Prairie.

A search warrant was executed and officers learned that Marshall, Fredrickson and Berglund were involved in making counterfeit currency, according to the complaint.

Reportedly, the three men were attempting to fax a photocopy of Fredrickson's driver license and remarked about the clarity of the photocopy. It was at that time Berglund experimented with copying a $10 bill.

The report stated that the three men were surprised at the quality of the image and tried to then copy the reverse side of the bill, which led them to eventually make denominations to include $1, $5 and $20 bills.

In the complaint, Marshall stated that a template or cutout sizing tool was made to size the money and make the borders and eventually cut them from four sheets of paper once both sides had been duplicated.

Reportedly, research was done on what type of paper was used for making money and after determining what would work best, Marshall went with Fredrickson and Berglund to the Brainerd-Baxter area and purchased paper that would be most life-like in comparison to real government notes.

Marshall apparently stayed with Berglund and Fredrickson at a residence in Staples during which time numerous bills were allegedly printed by all three of the men.

The three men used the counterfeit money in exchange for goods and services at a number of businesses in the Parkers Prairie, Wadena and Staples areas, according to the complaint.

When Marshall left the residence in Staples, he reportedly took with him his share of the counterfeit bills, which included approximately 10 $20 bills, 50 $10 bills, 50 $5 bills and 50 $1 bills.

Each count of the counterfeiting charges has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine.

Both Marshall and Berglund were released on their own recognizance with a set of conditions. A warrant was issued for Fredrickson in October. He was arrested and booked last week and is scheduled to make his first court appearance January 22.